The USDA granted $465,000 to Marietta Memorial Hospital in Ohio to implement a telemedicine program for opioid addiction, NBC affiliate WTAP reports.
The grant will help expand opioid addiction programming by virtually connecting with patients in rural communities who are unable to travel to Marietta to receive in-person care.
"This is an outreach methodology that allows us to speak to them literally and be able to see those patients and those individuals who need help through the technology itself," said DeeAnn Gehlauf, Marietta Memorial Hospital vice president of business and organization development, according to the report.
Marietta Memorial Hospital is part of Marietta-based Memorial Health System, a nonprofit health system that comprises two hospitals, outpatient care sites and provider clinics.